The Shifting Twenty-First Century Presidency

Angebote / Angebote:

The presidency has undergone significant changes in the twenty-first century, with George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and now Joe Biden transforming the office in distinct ways. Part of these changes stem from the numerous crises of this young century: 9/11 and the resulting War on Terror, Katrina, the Great Recession, the coronavirus pandemic, and the urban unrest of 2020. Crisis always brings with it rapid change. But there are other factors at work as well. Increased polarization has led presidents of both sides of the aisle to press existing rules and norms to their limits in the short windows allotted to them. And advances in technology, with the development of America as an impatient nation, means that leaders feel the pressure to get more done during their tenures, norms and rules be damned. The result is a lot of policy and structural change in a short period, including new cabinet departments, new election rules, and significantly increased spending and debt, among other things. For the most part, these changes have occurred with little thought to what it all means for the functionality and stability of our democratic institutions and processes and, consequently, our nation's capacity to address the needs as well as aspirations of the American people"--